1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical receptacle having a generally cylindrical, nonconductive contact carrier that is rotatably mounted by a surrounding nonconductive housing for selectively connecting carrier-carried contacts with housing-carried contacts when the carrier is rotated relative to the housing to an "on" position, and that interrupts such connection when the carrier in rotated to an "off" position, with a detent preferably being provided to assist in releasably retaining the carrier in its "off" position. More particularly, the present invention relates to a variable orientation switching receptacle of the type described that is well suited for use as a replacement for conventional electrical receptacles that typically are utilized to receive one or more plural-prong electrical plugs for selectively connecting the conductive prongs of received plugs to a source of electrical energy.
2. Prior Art
The vast majority of electrical receptacles that are installed in the walls of homes, apartments, offices and the like are of the type that include one or more sets of fixed-position female electrical contacts that are configured to receive prongs (male electrical contacts) of appropriately oriented cord-connected plugs. To utilize such receptacles, the power cord of an electrical appliance is extended from the location of the appliance to the location of a wall-mounted receptacle; the cord-connected plug of the appliance is properly oriented such that its prongs are suitably aligned with a set of female contacts of the receptacle; and the properly aligned prongs of the plug are inserted into the receptacle to permit the female contacts to engage, grip and establish electrical contact with the inserted prongs.
One drawback of receptacles of the type just described is that, due to the fixed-orientation character of their female contacts, it often is found that plugs (and electrical cords connected thereto) that are connected to such receptacles interfere with proper placement of furniture and the like. To resolve such conflicts, it is not unknown for plugs to be bent or otherwise detrimentally deformed (and/or for cords connected thereto to be bent sharply or otherwise detrimentally deformed--which can lead to cords becoming frayed, shorted or broken) to conform to limited available space, with the result that fire and electrical hazards may be created.
Another drawback of receptacles having fixed-position contacts is that, if a non-standard plug (e.g., a plug of oversize or cumbersome design, or a right-angle plug or the like) is "plugged into" one of the stations of a two-station receptacle, the configuration of the non-standard plug (and/or the orientation of an electrical cord connected to the non-standard plug) may block the other station of the receptacle, thereby preventing use of the second station. Stated in another way, while it may normally be possible to connect two "standard" plugs to a two-station receptacle, the connection of a "non-standard" plug to one of the receptacle's stations may prevent the other station of the receptacle from concurrently receiving and serving a second plug.
Still another drawback of receptacles having fixed-position contacts is that no provision is made for "deactivating" individual sets of female contacts as a safeguard to ensure that toddlers (who have been known to stick metal objects into the slots of such receptacles) will not be painfully shocked or electrocuted. While it is known to deactivate a receptacle by operating a circuit breaker or an electrical switch, this approach often proves to be inconvenient and/or unacceptable. For example, it often is desired to make use of one set of contacts of a receptacle to operate a lamp or other form of appliance while a remaining set of contacts of the receptacle remains idle. "Idle" contacts that are not deactivated are "alive" (i.e., are connected to a source of electrical energy) and therefore present a hazard to a toddler who decides to probe the "idle" contacts by inserting metal objects into receptacle openings.
While many proposals have been advanced with an eye toward solving one or more of the drawbacks that are discussed above, the need for an electrical receptacle 1) that does not utilize female contacts that are held in a fixed orientation, and 2) that provides an easy-to-use method for individually deactivating sets of female contacts for purposes of safety has been inadequately addressed by prior proposals.